News Release: 2004-290 December 14, 2004
NASA Selects Investigations for the Mars Science Laboratory
NASA has selected eight proposals to provide instrumentation and associated
science investigations for the mobile Mars Science Laboratory rover, scheduled
for launch in 2009. Proposals selected today were submitted to NASA in response
to an announcement of opportunity released in April.
The Mars Science Laboratory mission, part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program,
would deliver a mobile laboratory to the surface of Mars to explore a local
region as a potential habitat for past or present life. The laboratory would
operate under its own power. It is expected to remain active for one Mars year,
equal to two Earth years, after landing.
In addition to the instrumentation selected, Mars Science Laboratory would carry
a pulsed neutron source and detector for measuring hydrogen (including water),
provided by the Russian Federal Space Agency. The project would also include a
meteorological package and an ultraviolet sensor provided by the Spanish
Ministry of Education and Science.
"This mission represents a tremendous leap forward in the exploration of Mars,"
said NASA's Deputy Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate,
Dr. Ghassem Asrar. "MSL is the next logical step beyond the twin Spirit and
Opportunity rovers. It will use a unique set of analytical tools to study the
red planet for over a year and unveil the past and present conditions for
habitability of Mars," Asrar said.
"The Mars Science Laboratory is an extremely capable system, and the selected
instruments will bring an analytical laboratory to the martian surface for the
first time since the Viking landers over 25 years ago," said Douglas McCuistion,
Mars Exploration Program director at NASA Headquarters.
The selected proposals will conduct preliminary design studies to focus on how
the instruments can be accommodated on the mobile platform, completed and
delivered consistent with the mission schedule. NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for
the Science Mission Directorate.
Selected investigations and principal investigators:
-- "Mars Science Laboratory Mast Camera," Michael Malin, Malin Space Science
Systems, San Diego, Calif. Mast Camera would perform multi-spectral, stereo
imaging at lengths ranging from kilometers to centimeters, and can acquire
compressed high-definition video at 10 frames per second without the use of the
rover computer.
-- "ChemCam: Laser Induced Remote Sensing for Chemistry and Micro-Imaging,"
Roger Wiens, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N.M. ChemCam would
ablate surface coatings from materials at standoff distances of up to 10 meters
and measure elemental composition of underlying rocks and soils.
-- "Mahli: Mars HandLens Imager for the Mars Science Laboratory," Kenneth
Edgett, Malin Space Science Systems. Mahli would image rocks, soil, frost and
ice at resolutions 2.4 times better, and with a wider field of view, than the
Microscopic Imager on the Mars Exploration Rovers.
-- "The Alpha-Particle-X-ray-Spectrometer for Mars Science Laboratory," Ralf
Gellert, Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany. This instrument
would determine elemental abundance of rocks and soil. It will be provided by
the Canadian Space Agency.
-- "CheMin: An X-ray Diffraction/X-ray Fluorescence instrument for definitive
mineralogical analysis in the Analytical Laboratory of Mars Science Laboratory,"
David Blake, NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. CheMin, would
identify and quantify all minerals in complex natural samples such as basalts,
evaporites and soils, one of the principle objectives of Mars Science
Laboratory.
-- "Radiation Assessment Detector," Donald Hassler, Southwest Research
Institute, Boulder, Colo. This instrument would characterize the broad spectrum
of radiation at the surface of Mars, an essential precursor to human exploration
of the planet. The instrument would be funded by the Exploration Systems Mission
Directorate at NASA Headquarters.
-- "Mars Descent Imager," Michael Malin, Malin Space Science Systems. The Mars
Descent Imager would poduce high-resolution color-video imagery of the descent
and landing phase, providing geological context information, as well as
allowing for precise landing-site determination.
-- "Sample Analysis at Mars with an integrated suite consisting of a gas
chromatograph mass spectrometer, and a tunable laser spectrometer," Paul
Mahaffy, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. This instrument
would perform mineral and atmospheric analyses, detect a wide range of organic
compounds and perform stable isotope analyses of organics and noble gases.
Guy Webster (818) 354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Donald Savage (202) 358-1547
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.